People often string brightly-colored caution tape around construction projects, machinery, open electrical units, changed site conditions, and temporary obstructions to limit access to the site and to provide notice that conditions are more dangerous inside the perimeter of the caution tape. Caution tape is often strung between fixed items disposed around the site. When such fixed items are not available in a desired location, the person stringing the caution tape adds a temporary fixture to support the caution tape. When the fixture is located in soft ground, common temporary fixtures include wooden stakes and pieces of spare rebar that may be pounded into the ground. When the fixture is located on hard ground, cement, or asphalt, a weighted bucket or barrel may be used to directly support the caution tape or to support an upwardly extending temporary fixture to support the caution tape. The hassle of providing temporary fixtures for supporting caution tape can lead to people not stringing the tape or taking shortcuts with the location of the tape.
Traffic safety cones are widely available and are a commonly-recognized indicator of a dangerous or uncommon condition. Traffic cones typically stack such that they are easy to store and transport large quantities of the cones. A drawback with barricading a site with traffic cones is that one can readily pass between the cones. Someone who is not paying attention to his direction may thus pass unaware between cones and encounter the uncommon site condition inside the cones. Those facing these barricading problems thus desire a device that may be used with a traffic cone to support caution tape. These people also may wish to use multiple rows of spaced caution tape or to lift a single strip of caution tape above the top of a traffic cone. Another problem encountered when people string caution tape on temporary fixtures is that the tape is often tied to the fixture or twisted around the fixture. When tied or twisted, the tape is pinched or bunched thus reducing the visible surface of the tape. Such pinching and bunching thus reduces the effectiveness of the caution tape.
Oftentimes it is necessary for workers and/or first responders to establish a safety or work zone to complete the task at hand. The creation of such a temporary safety and/or work zone is typically accomplished through a combination of safety cones and caution tape. More specifically, the safety cones are placed along the perimeter of the safety/work zone and strung together using caution tape. For example, when it is desirable to divert traffic or otherwise block off a designated construction zone, construction workers will typically place safety cones along the perimeter of the area being cordoned off and string said cones together With caution tape. Typically, the caution tape is tied or stapled to the cones, which is not only time consuming to install/de-install but also tends to damage the tape and/or cones so that they cannot be reused.
Consequently, there exists in the art a long-felt need for a removable device for attaching caution tape to a safety cone, traffic barrel, etc. There also exists in the art a long felt need for a caution tape retainer or holder that does not cause damage to the caution tape or to the object to which it is attached, thereby enabling the reuse of said items. Moreover, there is a long felt need for a caution tape retainer or holder for removable attachment to a safety cone, wherein a plurality of safety cones may be stacked for easy storage without first having to remove the caution tape retainers or holders attached thereto. Finally, there is a long-felt need for a caution tape retainer or holder that accomplishes all of the forgoing objectives and that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and safe and easy to use.
The present invention provides a simple, light-weighted, and removable unique designed caution tape retainer which is easy to use, small with basically one dimension, and inexpensive to manufacture.